Reblog And Put In The Tags A Traumatic Childhood Memory That Recently Popped Back Into Your Head

I'm in a support group for queer adults with disabilities (before I joined i didn't even know there *were* groups for that overlap, it's amazing and I love it) and we had our digital meeting on Monday. I shared your most recent flag update, where you had moved the new version to the public domain. Especially since we were talking about the ADA and its anniversary, it was very fitting. Everyone really liked it! Several people commented about the symbolism, in particular. So, just letting you know of some responses from outside tumblr. Thank you for putting it out there!

Thank you!

(Confession: At the time you first sent me this ask, the new version of the flag was not yet in the Public Domain. But it is, now! 🏴🎇🏴)

Shamelessly plugging the new version, again – especially since I want it to eclipse the old one:

To the extent possible under law, Ann Magill has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Visually Safe Disability Pride Flag. This work is published from: United States.

And for those who want detailed ‘specs’:

The ratio of overall breadth to overall length is 3 to 4. The ratio of the flag’s overall length to the width of each stripe is 10 to 1 (So the ratio of the overall length to the width of the combined stripes is 2 to 1).

The Hexadecimal codes for each of the colors are:

The Field: #585858

The Red: #CF7280

The Yellow: #EEDF77

The White: #E9E9E9

The Blue: #7AC1E0

The Green: #3AAF7D

Now, as to the symbolism: in the original flag, the zigzags were meant to represent “navigating around barriers.” But instead, they were the barrier – so they were removed.

So let me put the story of the new symbolism into words – here and now– and thereby bring it into being:

The Black, as it was from the beginning, represents rage and mourning for those who’ve suffered violence and abuse because of their disabilities.

The five colors, in order from left to right, represent bodily disability, neurodivergent disabilities, invisible and/or undiagnosed disabilities (always in the center, because any disability can be invisible at any time), mental illness/emotional disabilities, and sensory disabilities.

The colored band starts at the top of the hoist, which is a starting place of honor, and ends at the fly, which represents moving outward into the world.

Walls and locked doors (behind which Disabled People have been hidden for too long) are right angles, and square. And so the colored band is a diagonal that cuts across those right angles, in defiance.

The five stripes are parallel, to represent our solidarity.

There! How’s that?

a seemingly homemade shirt

found in a goodwill in Columbia, Kentucky

this is so petty but i hate how bipolar is treated like one of the big scary disorders but never talked about as one. people on here will talk about ending the demonization of ‘scary disorders’ like personally disorders and schizophrenia and did but not include bipolar despite being seen and treated by the general public as a ‘scary’ disorder. I had a mental health advocate tell me bipolar doesn’t count because it’s a mood disorder and therefor treated the same as gad and depression and i just. have you met a bipolar? listened to our symptoms? have you listened to doctors talk about us? our abuse rates? our suicide and alcoholism rates? the distain the public has for us? just include us in your positivity and advocacy please. im not asking for much

What is the difference though? /Gen

so this is coming from what i've learned in hospitals/psych wards/my own experience so it's not perfect but basically, everything with psychosis is rooted in a disconnect from reality while gad is linked to anxiety surrounding the present and future. there is no logical connection with psychotic anxiety and paranoia bc your brain is literally pulling shit out of thin air. bc of that, it is a lot harder to calm down bc you have to find a way to wrap your head around the fact that it isn't real. it can also be practically impossible to do that for some people, meaning the anxiety and paranoia are near constant. the paranoia is often tied to delusions-- so, once again, no reality-- and can be of the wildest shit that don't make sense. for example: someone with gad might be scared someone broke into their house and feel anxious. i get scared that doctors broke into my house to experiment of me and get anxious. same feeling but very different causes. someone with gad might be able to walk around the house and check the locks and calm themselves down. i could do that and still be terrified bc my fear isn't logical.

does that make sense? i can try and explain more if need be!

if you’re a mentally ill adult, especially if you’re psychotic or have bipolar, i highly recommend you look into getting a psychiatric advance directive. basically they’re a form you can fill out where you can specify what kind of treatment you want and don’t want in the case that you ever get legally declared incompetent. normally, getting declared incompetent means that psychiatrists take away your right to make decisions about your mental health care. for example, they can force you to take medications you don’t want or institutionalize you longterm without your consent. also the state appoints someone they choose to legally “consent” in your place.

what a psychiatric advance directive does is put limits on what the psychiatrists assigned to you can do. you can appoint your own person to be your legal representative, someone you trust who knows you and cares about you. you can also specify what hospitals you don’t want to be sent to or what doctors you don’t want to see or medications you don’t want to take or whether or not you consent to electroconvulsive treatment. you can also say what you do want, like i put down that they decided to institutionalize me, i wanted it to be at a specific psych ward i’d already been to and had a not terrible time at. and now, if i ever get declared incompetent, psychiatrists are legally not allowed to put me back on the meds that gave me a seizure. 

nobody wants to be legally declared incompetent. it’s really scary to think about, but it does happen, especially to people with psychosis or bipolar disorder. it’s better to have legal safeguards in place ahead of time and not need them than to get declared incompetent and not have an advance directive

just bc it’s a coping mechanism doesn’t mean it’s healthy

Hi! I’ve been diagnosed with BP2 just today, I will start with the meds tomorrow and I am looking for friendly blogs to follow.

I am new to everything and don't even know what I need but your blog looks nice 🙊 also, what is your propic? Is it a pride flag? Does BP have one?

Looking for advices as someone completely new on the matter! 🙈

welcome to the community! im glad you found my blog helpful and if theres ever anything i can do to help just let me know! As for your questions:

some friendly blogs to follow

@lumberjackloving // @bipolstar // @bxpolar // @bipolarbotany // @bipolarpng // @basicbipolarbitch // @actuallybipolar2 // @hypomania-dreams // @bipolarblueberries // @bipolarbuttercup // @lamiictal // @bipolar2andbpd // @bipolarmoss // @bipolar-type-2-confessions //

and @compassionatereminders, @positiveautistic, and @recoverystuff aren’t bipolar specific but they are my favorite reovery/positivity blogs!

that should get you started!

My profile pic

My profile pic is indeed the flag that I made for Bipolar Disorder! It’s a redesign of a slightly more popular flag which can be found here.

Some Advice

Comply with your meds! If you have a problem, speak to your psychiatrist, don’t just go off of them yourself, it can be dangerous.

Set a regular sleep schedule. sleeping too much or too little can induce or worsen depression or hypomania so going to bed and waking up the same time every day is a good idea.

Try tracking your mood with an app like Daylio or Bearable, that way you can see patterns and swings at a glance

Just like winter can cause depression in people without bipolar, spring can bring hypomania in those with bipolar. Just a heads up since spring is right around the corner

Blue light, the kind of light phones and computers give off, can cause your brain to stop making melatonin, the sleep chemical. That can cause or worsen hypomania during spring time so consider using an app or program designed to block the blue light from around 6pm until you go to bed during springtime.

your symptoms might not look exactly like other people’s symptoms and that is absolutely okay. bipolar presents in different ways for everyone. dont worry about faking or ‘doing it wrong’

make some friends in the community! this community has made me feel a lot better about my diagnosis. its a very welcoming and friendly group of people! Welcome, and congrats on a diagnosis <3

Therapist Red Flags

Therapy is important and can be really helpful, but not all therapists are good at their job. Here’s a few things to look out for when you’re seeing a therapist:

Not listening to what you tell them

Ignoring confidentiality (except in emergencies)

Making you feel judged or ashamed

Ignoring or trivialising your needs

Consistently being late

Making fun of your needs / accomplishments

Being judgemental or critical of you

Not taking your feedback on sessions into account

Condescending facial expressions or body language

Ignoring what you want to do / accomplish in therapy

Talking too much about themselves

Making you feel like problems are all your fault

Being insensitive to your culture or religion

They’re making you feel bad about yourself

Using the phone or getting distracted during your sessions

Attempting to make romantic / sexual advances on you

Making you feel stupid or invalid for what you say or how you feel

Forgetting important details about you / your life

Pushing you too hard before you’re ready

You wondering if their behaviour is a red flag. If you’re looking it up then chances are you already feel uncomfortable in therapy. You should never be forced into seeing a therapist who makes you feel uneasy. There’s no shame in leaving and finding a different therapist.

Are you having a hard time keeping yourself and your brain stimulated? Can you even stimulate yourself at all? Maybe you should try making a Dopamenu!

I made a Dopamenu today by following How To ADHD’s guide.

How To Give Your Brain The Stimulation It Needs (Dopamenu Guide!)

I recommend watching the video and trying to make yourself a Dopamenu as well. I used OpenOffice to make my Dopamenu, it’s a free alternative to Word and it works pretty much the same!

LINK TO MY GOOGLE DRIVE SO YOU CAN GET THE FILE & FILL IN YOUR OWN DOPAMENU YOURSELF

please dont use spoon theory terms unless you have physical disabilities / chronic pain/illness. the woman who came up with it used it as a metaphor for what it’s like to live with lupus, and as far as I know it’s not applicable to people who do not have physical disabilities or chronic pain/illness. if you do then carry on but otherwise please don’t.

shit, sorry, didn't know. that's my bad, i'll edit or delete my last stuff that used it. sorry!!